Keech model A

Here is an early Keech model A. Alvin. D. Keech was credited as the inventor of the banjolele. you can read all about him on the net, so i wont bore you with it here! This uke arrived to me in a very poor state indeed. The action was about an inch high!, sharp fret ends, tatty old vellum and a worn chipped old finish too. I started by dismantling the instrument, and stripped off the old finish. The fret ends were fixed with my trusty Dremel. I re-finished the wood with my usual method, and fitted a new vellum. These ukes are designed so the vellum sits inside the pot on a metal frame, with a flat resonator plate on the back. I reset the neck angle to give the correct height for the action. Then fitted new tuners and Aquila strings. The final result was good, the uke played much better than i thought too. it has a nice tone, and a gentle volume